A Kiss of Darkness
by LaLuneWolf
Summary: What if the Gods were real? What if they fell for modern women? Could it take the stubborn strength of a modern woman to reach the fierce God of the Underworld?
1. Chapter 1

Present Day: Las Vegas

**Chapter 1**

Alethea Kafieri was the voice of the abused. She'd watched her Aunt go through it so long that she'd made a promise to herself that she'd help in some way, that she'd make a difference. Her battered woman's shelter helped many women and their children. She was a relentless force and currently, a quite pissed off force. The pompous prick sitting across from her desk was trying to make an offer on her building that was obviously not for sale. But beady little eyes hadn't seemed to notice the lack of a 'For Sale' sign out front. He seemed blinded by his greed. Apparently her building stood in the way of something he had planned. She tried to remain graceful, her Yiayia's words coming back to her. _'A lady must always remain a lady Alethimou, you must always remember this'_. She was about to say a silent apology to her dear and departed Yiayia. "For the last time Mr. Oliver, my building is NOT for sale." This time she stressed the word 'not' hoping to emphasize where she stood.

He barely looked at her, pen poised over his check book. "Half a million then?" He said placing pen tip to paper.

That was it! With a silent apology to her Yiayia she cut to the chase. "NO! Not. For. Sale. Must I spell it out for you?" She stood swiftly pointing at the door. "Leave now please, while I still have patience!" Maybe she handled it better than she had thought. No cussing. She'd be eating that thought in a moment.

"I urge you to think hard on this. You don't want to go down this road. You will not win." Oh no he didn't! Another silent apology was sent out. His jowls flapped disgustingly as he'd shaken his head while speaking. "Excuse me? You did not just threaten me." She said moving towards the door and opening it. "You sir are a vlaka! Leave my office and building now! Don't make me call the police." A part of her reveled in the fact that being six feet tall, she got to be the one to glare down at him, while he struggled to glare up. She thanked the gods her Greek heritage blessed her with her six foot frame. She shut the door and leaned against it. Was it childish to have called him a 'big fat jerk' in Greek? Maybe. Did she care? Not enough to regret it. She opened the door and walked over to Grace. "Did they leave?"

Grace nodded. "Yes, they are gone."

Alethea gave a nod. "Good. If you see any of them again, call the police."

Grace nodded. "Is everything okay?

She nodded. "It is now." Giving a smile to Grace she went back to her office to get her things. She was leaving early to spend the evening with her friends. It had been a while since she was able to get together with Diana, Geary, and Sotera. A ladies night was very much in order at the moment.

Thirty minutes later, cocktail in hand she laughed as she finished telling Diana and Megeara what happened earlier. Geary laughed so hard she almost choked on her drink. "You called him a vlaka?" She asked between giggles.

Diana laughed. "I'll bet the dumbfounded look was priceless." She said.

"Oh you should have seen him sputter like he wanted to say something. He probably didn't even know what it meant." She wrinkled her nose. "Actually, I take that back. It was disgusting. His jowls flabbed and….ugh." She said giving a shudder as if she could shake of the image.

"Eww. He does not sound pleasant." Diana said.

"I say we focus on the hunks that have come out in force!" Geary exclaimed in excitement looking around the room, Rumor was one of the best clubs in Las Vegas that catered to Greeks. Friday nights were Greek night when all the Vegas Greeks came out of the wood work. Diana looked around with a grin. "They are looking good tonight!"

Alethea couldn't help but smile. "Oh yeah." She said taking a drink. "Hey have you guys seen Sotera?" Both girls shook their heads. "Huh, she said she'd be here tonight."

Geary laughed. "You know Tory, she probably found a hunk and went home with him."

Diana shook her head. "Nope, she's coming this way."

They waved her over. She had a grin on her face that spelled nothing but trouble as she made her way to their table. As she reached them she told them there was a place they had to see. Rumor was usually where they spent their Friday nights having a good time scoping the single men. But Sotera insisted and the girls followed. Alethea honestly didn't care where they went as long as they had a good time and she was sure the girls felt the same way.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Dante's Inferno was a new club on the strip. They'd heard about it in the paper but haven't gone to it. Tory had met a friend there and told them that it was a place to check out. It being this early in the evening she'd said they had to change first. Their clothes, while they fit Rumor, didn't quite fit the more rock type feel of Dante's Inferno. None of them really owned anything that fit so after a run to some stores they were finally ready. Alethea chose a crimson colored pencil dress with black lace along the top. She kept her black four inch heels. Normally she didn't wear tall heels but these had been too cute to pass up. They couldn't help but feel like kids at Christmas taking in every inch of the nightclub. A staircase spiraled down into what was called The Pit, it was a quiet area where you could eat if dancing wasn't your thing. Opposite that one was another spiral staircase leading up to the VIP area. Alethea had to admit; whoever had decorated the place had done a good job. It was done tastefully and not tacky or overdone. The girls went straight for the bar looking around as they made their way.

"You should see some of the men here!" Tory said as they reached the bar each taking a stool.

Diana laughed. "Oh we're seeing some of them and… yeah." Tory slapped her playfully. "I'm not talking about the kiddos."

Alethea and Geary shook their heads at their friends as their drinks came. While Alethea could admit there were probably some good looking guys in this bunch, she wasn't sure they would be her type. Looking at some of the more extreme Goth, metal looks, she didn't know if she would really be interested and then she saw him. The man was gorgeous with an almost dark and deadly aura about him. The kind of man you stayed away from for fear of dark and dangerous things. Long midnight black hair framed a firm masculine face. He was dark and exotic; his skin a mixture of gold and bronze with an intimidating look of a statue come to life. Dark eyebrows were thin slashes above eyes the color of which she could not tell from this far. They were a deep vibrant color that blazed above high cheek bones and a strong well-defined chin. His nose hawkish; he was stern, angry, and… magnificent.

"Earth to Alethea! Come in Alethea." Tory's voice pulled her from her stupor as the magnificent tall, dark, and handsome was making his way towards them. She turned towards her friends tearing her eyes from him though she didn't want to. "Huh?"

"I just asked you a question." Tory said with a laugh. Alethea shook herself from her stupor. "I'm sorry, what?" The girls laughed and Tory pointed in the opposite directions of the vision of male perfection. "He was giving you the eye girl." Alethea followed the direction of her hand and frowned. "Oh dear…god." The look on her face wasn't a pretty one.

The girls busted up laughing. She slapped Tory playfully since she was the closest. "You are all cruel, cruel, evil women." The young gothed-out guy began to make his way over. The girls all turned their backs to the room facing the bar. "Oh god, look what you've done! You've made him come over." Alethea said while the girls proceeded to giggle. Tory pulled out her mirror to pretend to powder her nose and stopped. "Aww bummer, he just looked like he's been scared half out of his wits." She frowned closing her mirror. "That is too bad, that would have been fun." Alethea shook her head while they turned back around on their stools. She came face to face with a stomach that even covered in the black shirt, she could tell was corded with muscle. The girls had gone completely silent beside her. She looked up and up and came face to face with tall, dark, and handsome. She was surprised to see Tory stunned to silence. She was normally the first one to hit on a guy. But a glance over confirmed her suspicions, they were all stunned to silence. She couldn't think of a word to say, everything she could come up with sounded so stupid that she knew they would sound just as bad outside of her head.

"Good evening." The deep voice that spilled from the large man was the type that seemed as though it could caress every inch of you with just a word, the type that stirred things low and brought every inch of you to attention. "Good evening." She said somewhat softly surprised that she could get the words out of her mouth without sounded like a complete fool.

Hades wasn't usually the one to come to the human world. There were other gods who liked to come and dabble with the mortals. They could visit any time they wanted and he'd heard many of them go on about their escapades in the modern human world. The first time he had visited he found it so different from the ancient world it was almost unsettling. Demios had helped him get settled in the human world and to learn how to get around. He wasn't too fond of what the mortals called vehicles, too cramped and closed in, and while he thought he would write off all vehicles, motorcycles caught his attention. They had the freedom he liked without feeling like he was stuck in a box. He'd been coming for a while and hadn't found anyone to his liking, though unlike the others, Hades didn't come for the conquests. He came for the experience. He'd always been different than the other gods and while they thought him to be ruthless and uncaring they were only half right. Being the judge of the dead you had to have some compassion to an extent. He didn't just condemn souls to Tartarus, the Greek version of the Christian's hell, he sent them to Elysia, what mortals would call heaven. While he had to strike fear into the souls in Tartarus, he had to have compassion for the ones in Elysia. There was more to the God of the Underworld than many knew and currently he found he couldn't take his eyes off the woman before him.

"I hope that you are having a good night." He said looking down. She smiled a smile that pulled at that heart he kept buried and closed off. He'd do anything to get just one more. "I'm having a wonderful night thank you." She said her face flushing just slightly. He found it looked good on her, that flush.

She was lovely with honey curls framing her lovely face and trailing down her back. Her hair was pulled up and yet was long enough that it stopped at the middle of her back. She had the kind of curls you could tell were natural, he wanted to wrap the strand near her face around his finger to see how soft it was. Brown eyes were light, almost honey brown to match her hair, and set over high cheek bones and full lips. Her Greek heritage was evident with the strong nose and round face. Even sitting he could tell she was tall, with lush curves.


End file.
